Published: February 27, 2008 11:45 pm            

Farm tries share program to survive

NEWBURY, Mass. — Colin Smith didn’t give his wife a wedding ring. Instead, he gave her a tractor as a sign of their mutual commitment to Iron Moon Farm.

Their commitment to the farm is still steadfast, though the Smiths agree desperate times require creative ways of continuing the business. And when the Route 1A bridge over the Parker River closed last September, desperate times arrived.

“We are so committed to the farm,” Smith said. “We came a long way from starting it up to getting the farm so it was paying for itself. Then we got slapped in the face.”

Since the Massachusetts Highway Department decided to close the span, just a mile from the almost 50-year-old farm at 186 High St., things have been financially strained and the Smiths have had to come up with new ways to sustain their business as well as a way to get the community involved.

This spring for the first time, the Smiths will participate in Community Supported Agriculture, a growing trend among farms that allows residents to buy a share of the farm and reap the benefits of its harvest. The farm is now signing up members for the coming season.

“We’ve been thinking about this for a couple of years, but we kind of moved it ahead because we are forced to do something to stay open,” Smith said.

The roots of the CSA program date back more than 40 years to Japan, where a group of women became concerned about the use of pesticides. They created a “Teiki,” or “partnership,” with local farms in exchange for community support. In 1984, the idea was brought to the United States and has spread to 1,500 farms throughout the United States and Canada.

For $550, a full share will buy a 5- to 18-pound bag of fresh vegetables per week, enough to feed a family of four. Other options such as half shares (enough for two people) and individual shares are available for $400 and $275 respectively.

“A lot of people like to support agriculture,” Smith said. “It’s like a grocery store, only fresh. The whole thing is fresh-picked each morning, and that is the difference between this and the store. In the store, you don’t know how long the vegetables have been setting on the shelf.”

Last fall Newbury selectmen voted to allow the farm to open a stand on the Upper Green. Smith is grateful for the move because it allowed him to make it through the winter, though the future is still uncertain for Iron Moon Farm.

“The bridge will be closed for two years, but people are creatures of habit, and it will take a while to get people back over the bridge,” Smith said. “We are a little on the nervous side. We don’t know what will happen this season.”

The struggling farm will offer shares this spring not to make money but to “pay the bills and balance the books,” Smith said.

“We’re not going to make back what we lost but maybe enough to pay our bills,” he said.

While the season will start off slowly with cold crops, such as lettuce, Smith said that by July and into the fall shareholders can expect a huge bounty, from tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, garlic and squash to cabbage, potatoes, corn and pumpkins.

The farm is also offering a “fruit basket,” which, for an additional fee, will allow members to have locally picked fruit, ciders and lemonade throughout the season.

“We are winging it but hoping everything will work out,” Smith said.

Already the farm has received 25 CSA memberships, and it will not stop taking them until the season begins mid-June.

The bridge closure was just one more uncertainty stacked onto an already uncertain business often subject to the whims of Mother Nature.

“This is what farming is all about,” said Shirley Smith, founder of the business and mother of Colin. “You never know, day to day.”



Katie Curley writes for The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass. E-mail her at kcurley@newburyportnews.com.

        

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